Particular embodiments generally relate to a document management system.
In document management, information is likely sourced from different data providers that create and store information in their own formats, such as in paper or electronically in a computer system. In the medical field, patient information is migrating toward an increasing use of electronic systems that can store and organize information within a structured database framework as defined by data tables, fields, and values. Mapping or describing information into named fields and defining the relationship of these fields with each other inside a database structure enables the computer system to identify specific data, recognize the difference between one data field from another, and perform analytical tasks such as queries, calculations, and algorithmic functions. A flexible data structure also allows for compilation of information to be organized in different topics and presented in different reports. Structure can be very simple to very complex.
In the medical field, a majority of physicians still create and keep patient information on paper, such as doctor's notes, faxed lab reports, and hand-written prescriptions. To convert paper to an electronic format, the paper document is scanned into an electronic image. In its raw and original state, the difference in content captured by one electronic image cannot be read and is not recognizable by a computer system as being distinctly different from the content of another electronic image. Without the help of descriptive definitions, electronic images are not distinguishable by the computer and are therefore limited in analytical usefulness. For example, a computer cannot differentiate the results of a lab report image from those of another lab report image or from the content of a prescription image for that matter.
These two formats, paper images and machine-readable information stored in a database are usually not compiled together in a manner that would enable a system to search through both formats simultaneously. Rather, a system may store these different formats in separate directories or file folders and may display the information in separate views or in separate web pages of a web-based system. When patient information is presented in paper images or in machine-readable format, but cannot be compiled together in a way that can be organized for searching, sorting, and analysis simultaneously, the usefulness of patient's information is restricted. The result of having disparate information stored in a system that does not allow for simultaneous query and organization presents a missed opportunity in health care for leveraging an available set of more complete information as basis for making decisions and in some cases, may lead to clinical oversights and medical errors.